Page 64 of One Step Behind
‘The forensic team have finished analysing the evidence collected last week,’ DS Church says, directing her answer to Stuart and ignoring my outburst. ‘There are several fingerprints we’ve yet to identify—’
‘So they could be Matthew’s,’ I cut in.
‘We have Mr Dover’s prints on file, and they’re not his.’
‘Does that mean he has a criminal record?’ Stuart asks, and I sense that we are both trying to grab hold of any whisper of hope. ‘Has he done this type of thing before?’
‘No, it doesn’t mean that at all. There are a number of reasons fingerprints can be on the police database. In this case, his employer was burgled some years ago and staff members had their prints taken for comparison.’
‘So where does this leave us then?’ I ask.
‘I understand how frustrated you must be feeling, Jenna. But we are still investigating your case.’
I don’t know what that means, but I find myself nodding. Nothing makes sense. I know it’s you doing this to me. Why can’t they see it? I bite down on the inside of my cheek, stopping my confession from screaming out.I went to his house. There are dozens of photos of me and my children on his bedroom walls.
DS Church drops her gaze and opens her notebook. ‘There is one other thing I would like to discuss. The road traffic accident involving Mr Dover is being treated as suspicious. We have a witness who believes he saw Mr Dover being pushed into the path of the bus. We’ve been unable to locate any CCTV footage of the accident itself, but we are reviewing all dash cams and CCTV cameras from shops in the surrounding areas.’
‘What’s that got to do with us?’ Stuart asks.
‘Jenna, could you confirm your whereabouts on Thursday the thirteenth of June at approximately one thirty-five p.m., please?’
Stuart laughs. A snorting guffaw of a noise. ‘You can’t be serious?’
DS Church doesn’t reply. Her focus is on me and I feel my cheeks flush under her gaze. She can’t really think I had something to do with this, can she?
‘I was at work on Thursday,’ I reply, fighting to keep my voice even. ‘I did a twelve-hour shift, seven a.m to seven p.m. And I was in A&E when Matthew Dover was brought in. I saved his life. Twice, in fact. Do you really think I’d go to the effort of pushing him in front of a bus only to save his life thirty minutes later?’
‘You didn’t leave the hospital at any point during your shift?’ DS Church asks, ignoring my question.
‘There is no time to eat or sit down, let alone swan into town and hang around waiting to push people in front of buses.’
She fixes me with a look and I wish I could stuff the snarkiness of my comment back into my mouth. ‘Thank you for answering my question. We’ll be verifying your information with the hospital.’
‘Verify away,’ I say, my jaw so tight that pain stretches all the way to the top of my head.
‘Have you been to visit Mr Dover since we last spoke?’
‘No.’
She waits then, as if her silence will make me fill in the gaps, and it does. ‘I’ve taken some holiday,’ I add. ‘I’ve not been near the hospital for two days.’
‘Good,’ she says. ‘Thank you for your time, Jenna.’ DS Church stands and strides to the door. ‘I’ll see myself out.’
The door opens and shuts with a bang that shudders through the house. I lean my head back againstthe cushions and close my eyes, gaining a second of relief from the ache like two thumbs pressing into my temples.
Stuart leaps up the moment the silence settles over the house. ‘Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on here?’ He spins to look at me, eyes wide and flashing with confusion and anger.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You just lied to a police officer, Jenna.’
Chapter 35
Jenna
Stuart’s words hang between us as I wonder how much to tell him.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I head to the kitchen. My stomach is queasy from the three cups of coffee I’ve already drunk, but I flick the kettle for a fourth anyway.
